KL Rahul, who had to pull out of the series against South Africa where he was supposed to lead the side, has now also been ruled out of the tour of England due to injury. The swashbuckling batsman suffered a groin injury which has relegated him to the sidelines for nearly a month.
A senior BCCI official told anonymously that the members of the Test squad were supposed to assemble in Mumbai in order to catch their midnight flight. Rahul will not be travelling with the team as he is expected to take more time to recover. Although he might appear in a fitness test during the weekend, chances of recovery aren’t looking bright.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra thinks his absence is going to be a big blow for the team, especially in the opening position as Rahul had formed a strong partnership with Rohit Sharma. He also believes that his reported unavailability might hit India hard in multiple aspects during the rescheduled one-off Test in Birmingham.
“He (Rahul) is doubtful at the moment. He played extremely well last time, there is no doubt about that. The Rohit and Rahul pair had worked amazingly well but now I see problems from multiple angles. Firstly, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are going slightly undercooked,” he said on his YouTube channel.
The cricketer turned commentator also pointed out that both Kohli and Rohit struggled in IPL 2022 and aren’t in great form. The team will also not have plenty of time to get adjusted to the English conditions and the hosts have been playing some fearless cricketer under new coach Brendon McCullum.
“Both had a 50-50 IPL and have missed one series in between. The first match of the tour is a Test match. At times, you don’t get acclimatized even till the fourth Test match and here you have only one Test match. So it was already a problem and if after that KL Rahul is not present, it is a bigger problem,” he added.
The last time India took on England in 2021, KL Rahul emerged as a big sensation. He went on to score 315 runs at an average close to 40. Only Rohit Sharma, who made 368 runs, enjoyed a better time with the bat than Rahul.
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